After the revolution
by Griffin Strange
Summary: The white lady and the spider queen disposed of the pale king, together they found a way to deal with the infection, the kingdom slowly forgot about the pale king and the vessels were set free from the abyss. Everything starts during Hornet's birthday, everything changes on Corners birthday, an old lie hurts her.
1. Descent

"We are getting closer, I sence it ... it's even deeper"

"He never showed you this place ?"

"... He had his own secret and I had mines ... in the end secrets are like walls"

The spider queen eyed the two knights behind her, one of them looked uneasy while the other was admiring an environment he had never discovered.

"That's it ..." the queen stopped in front of a massive gate, there was some sort of symbol carved, Herrah almost immediacy recognized it, it was the king's brand.

The white lady ook a step closer toward the door, it shined brightly once, small withe sparks emerged from all around the door as if they were devouring it. Soon after the door disappeared, the way was open, and the group could continue.

However they were stopped once again as the path vanished, before them there was only void.

"Can you see the bottom Herrah ?"

"No ... even I can't ... you knew this place existed ?"

"Not to such an extent, Dryya, Ogrim, find a way to reach the bottom ... if you see any living being call us"

The two knights looked at each other for a brief second before engaging in their descent, the queen stared at the bottom, the spider could feel the terror of her friend.

"He never told you"

"... no ... I was aware, I thought I was doing this because I had some sort of responsibilities and now I realise the full extent of my mistake"

Herrah hesitated before asking her next question, she knew that the queen was still disturbed by her actions and the spider would rather avoid to open new wounds.

"How many ?" The spider queen simply asked

"... thousands" the white lady answered heavily

Another silence took place, the two great knights didn't show any sign of life and both queens lost their sigh on them almost immediately after they found their way down.

"Can we trust Ogrim ? I know that Dryya is devoted to you but- ... I fear that Ofrim may not put give you his loyalty immediately ... in fact I fear what will happen when the knights-"

"They won't, they will never find out, no one will ... we did what we had to ... and if they eventually figure out the truth I'm sure they will accept it"

"... it would be better indeed ... do you think some of them survived ?"

"He sealed this place once he found the perfect vessel, when we "dealt" with him he wasn't even ready to bring it to the temple"

"If they survived I wonder how they will get here"

"Each of them will be free, no one will be left behind"

"... about this perfect vessel, where is he ?"

"In a safe place ..."

Both of them heard something touch the ground in their back, Dryya was back.

"My queen, we found something but- ..." the knight seemed more disturbed than she already was before going to the bottom

"Speak Dryya, please"

"... bodies ... a lot of bodies, we found small bugs, childrens in fact, they are barely strong enough to move and they seem unable to communicate, Ogrim sent me back up, he is trying to regroup the children as we speak"

"Lead us to the bottom Dryya"

"My queen ... I must warn you, the path is dangerous"

"I appreciate your attention but we must hurry, if what you say is the truth then every second is important"

The knight nodded once and then stood up, she showed both queens the path she and Ogrim had found in order to reach the bottom.

"... I can take the lead if you prefer" proposed Herrah

"Yes ... I trust you, I'm not used to this kind of path but I have my own ways to reach a destination"

The descent was lengthy, the platform on which they stood a moment ago was already out of sight. Herrah could admit that even as a spider it was probably one of the most dangerous path in Hallownest, from times to times she took a small look behind her to see if her friend could find her way down.

The queen used the roots coming from the top of her head to have points of support, when they first met Herrah was disturbed by this physical aspect of the queen, she couldn't understand if they worked as tentacle or has horns, now she was even more confused, the way they spreaded around to help her made Herrah think about roots ... but plants do not grow out from the head someone someone ... do they ?

The small knight stopped for an instant "My queen are you alright ? I see that you are using a lot of your energy, we can stop for a moment if you want"

"Continue Dryya, I'm not exhausted yet"

The knights kept starring at the white lady for a moment.

"We are almost at the bottom, be careful though, it might still be dangerous"

The knight went further down, Herrah stopped for a moment, her friend was getting impatient

"Herrah is there anything wrong ?" she asked

"First I just realised what was the point of making such a path to get the to bottom or to the top ... your husband was using it as some kind of test ... to find the strongest among the weaks ... and second you are tired"

"Herrah I'm not-" the queen was interrupted by the spider

"Extending your own body at such a speed is tiring, now that HE isn't here anymore we have all the time we need ... so please, do not be reckless"

"... fine ... give me a moment, you can join Dryya and Ogrim, tell them I will be there soon"

"Good choice" Herrah pursued the descent and reached the bottom sooner than she expected, the small knight was here to, she look scared now and immediately ran toward the spider queen when she noticed that her queen was missing.

"Where is-?!" She must have tried to put pressure the spider queen but Herrah was not impressed at all, the knight had some fight in her but nothing to fear.

"Your queen is right behind us ... she is resting"

"But-"

"I convinced her ... now would you remove your hand from this nail ? As the queen explained earlier I am here as an ambassador AND friend, I have no intention to hurt her"

The knight tightened her trip on the nail handle for moment but then she saw her queen coming down and felt reassured.

"Finally ... I thought it was endless" the queen explained as she discovered the bottom.

Herrah looked at her feets ... bodies, a lot of bodies ... there was no ground, the ground was made of bodies.

"You said thousands back then ... I don't know if you are still right" she hesitantly grabbed what looked to be head.

The queen ignored Herrah's remark and followed Dryya

"Where is Ogrim ?"

"Just ahead, he found the childrens close to some kind of tower, when I left we found 7 of-'

The queen and the knight stopped when they saw that their was now a few dozens of small bugs around a taller one.

The said bug turned around and waved at his queen.

"I found more !" He yelled

"... well that was unexpected, there is a large ... lake next to the tower, but I would recommend to not get too close, there is something inside"

The queen stared at the small bugs ... her children, in a way. She walked next to Ogrim who looked slightly disoriented.

"Dryya, get to the top of that tower and scout for the other children, Ogrim explore further"

"Yes" they both answered

Herrah joined the queen right when the knight left

"... you are lucky, If I could have so many children then my kingdom wouldn't fall apart"

"I don't even know if they understand"

"They were smart enough to regroup ... beside I think they recognise their mother, talk to them"

"... Can some of you understand what I am saying ?"

The queen received the silence as a first answer, then a few of the children nodded, as much as they could.

"You see" exclaimed Herrah

"I'm not sure it will be so simple, even if some can answer they are just children"

"Children made to obey ..." Herrah sighed, she walked close to one of the vessels who answered "you, can you understand when I speak ?" Herrah's tone sounded aggressive but the vessel nodded just like he did with the queen.

"Good ... can you speak with your sibling ?"

All the vessels looked confuse, they exchanged glance for a moment before Herrah caught their attention once again.

"Enough, I understand"

"Herrah you do not have to be so-"

"I know ... it's just- ... they are so ... alike to him"

"But they are not him and-" suddenly something lit at the top of the tower, the light was directed toward the strange lake.

"... lumaflies ? In such a place ? ... no it's something else, something ancient" assumed the queen

"This place wasn't built by your husband ?"

"No, I would have known if he did anything like this ... Dryya ?"

Soon after the queen called her the knight was bowing in front of her

"Pleaser forgive me, I was curious about this mechanism and I also found some dead bodies ... my queen those were royal retainers.

"Here ? ... the entrance was sealed, he locked up his own servant inside ?" Wondered Herrah

"I fear that's the case ... what killed them ?"

"I have no idea my queen but- ... there was a problem with their face, I don't know how to describe it but, it looked like ... black tears, there was no visible injury on their body"

"Thank you Dryya, find Ogrim and lead the children to the top, Herrah and I still have one thing to do, children follow Dryya, she will help you"

Herrah gave a questionable glance to the queen, the knight did not bother to look further and went looking for her friend.

The queen walked away from the tower followed by the spider.

"What are you-?" Herrah was interrupted by the white lady.

"His promise ..."

"... so you know ?"

"Since he started "visiting" you"

"... I had no choice, if I had found another solution we wouldn't be here ... I wouldn't be here ... maybe it was a mistake, "honoured caste" ... hehe ... that's why they call me the beast in the e- ... White look"

The spider queen pointed her hand oward a black dot in ghr distance, the white lady got closer, here, on a pile of bodies, was one last vessel, away from the others.

"I could not sence it ... why ? ... it didn't want me to find it ?" The white lady sounded confused "little one ?" She called but the vessel didn't flinch.

"What's wrong ? ... maybe he has no mind ? What if your bloody husband succeed ?"

"No ... they would obey any order until death ... this one is-" the queen looked next to her, Herrah was walking directly toward the vessel.

"If he won't listen to you but maybe he will listen to me" she stood next to the vessel, he was looking at his feet "right ?"

Again it didn't move

"... you are really different from the others ... you can think I but you can't fear, you can choose but you don't want to why ? ... you were given a purpose and you could not fulfill it ?"

The vessel twitched for a brief second, Herrah hit a nerve.

"Does it mean yes ? ... you don't have to fulfill anything, not anymore, not for anyone but yourself, you are not more perfect than any of your sibling. This is a dirty lie, all of you never had to choose the circumstances in which you were born, but now your mother is giving you the choice, each of you can receive freedom ... what kind of creature would refuse to leave this place ?"

Finally the vessel turned toward the spider queen.

"Follow your siblings ... for you have no reas-"

The vessel moved so fast that Herrah was almost sacred to the point of hurting it, the vessel hugged her body. The spider queen had no idea about how she should act now.

"Hehehe" the white lady laughed

"W-what is so funny ?" Asked Herrah

"It did not listen, in fact I think it senced what's inside of you" the queen got closer from the vessel and grabbed one of his arm. The vessel stopped hugging the spider and was now looking at his mother.

"Please, come with us child ... alright ?"

The vessel didn't answered, it let the white lady grab it into her arms.

"... I think we can get out of this pace for good now"

"Y-yes ... and then ? What should we do ? My hunters must have left the white palace now, I asked them to clean up their mess and to bring back every bodies with them so no one would link us to the attack ... but then, what will happen ? ... you can't take care of almost a hundred of childrens"

"... I will ... if I have to I will, for the future ... I think we could become good friends, If you want your independence I can't refuse it"

"I regret White but I wasn't talking about the independence of spiders or our friendships"

"... I'm listening Herrah"

"They shall never know, no one will tell them about HIM, no one will tell them about the infection and finally no one will remember the king"

"... this is your condition then ... fine ... but then I have my own condition Herrah, one day she or he will me her or his aunt and siblings"

"Then we have a deal"

* * *

**Present**

* * *

"Hornet, you know it is your birthday today hum ?"

"Yes mother"

"... you have grown so much, I barely remember the little spider with who I used to make scarfs and who I taught to create webs and strings ... you are already exploring our tunnels and you have shown talent for hunting, that's why today I offer you this"

The spider queen showed a small object that she had been hiding in her back since her daughter arrived.

"Is this-"

"Yes ... it's a charm Hornet, the weaversong ... I wanted to give you a protection, something you will always have close from you, comon, use it, it is your birth day after all"

The spider princess put the charm on her cloth and immediately a bunch of small spiders appeared

"Weaverlings ?" Asked Hornet out loud

The spiders discovered their environment, once they noticed their princess they bowed on the ground.

"Mother it's- ... it's amazing"

If her mother could she would show her expression of happiness to her daughter, at this moment she simply patted her daughter's shoulder.


	2. Diplomatic journey

Hunting, it was her favourite game, running after small creatures, anticipating their movements. It gave her such a surge of adrenaline. Just what she needed as a distraction.

Her mother howler would never let her go alone, she would always be followed by a small group of soldiers, thought they couldn't be directly next to her in order to let their princess enjoy her activities.

"EDILO !" She yelled throwing her needles toward her prey

The prey was called a corpse creeper, sometimes "unlucky" or "reckless" bugs would get to close from their territory and ... die, then their body would be used as a temporary nest by some lesser bugs.

Sometimes Hornet imagined how it would feel to not be the one in control of her body ... this kind of thought terrified her.

The nail flew through the corpse, a perfect throw, it was so fragile that it exploded after a few seconds.

Hornet stared at her trophy and retrieved her needle.

"My princess I-"

Hornet drew back her needle immediately but stopped right before hitting the face of one of her guards.

"Pardon me, I guess I was still focused"

"It's nothing princess, the Queen is requiring your presence, do you want our assistance in order to go back ?"

"No, I'll do it myself, inform my mo- I mean the Queen that I am returning home"

"Yes princess"

The guard shot a string toward the ceiling and disappeared.

She looked back at the corpse ... there had been more and more of those at this time and no one could explain from where they were coming.

It was supposed to be a secret but everyone in the deep nest knew that something was off ... disappearances, mysterious deaths, rumors about a strange predator. Hopefully Hornet's mother was still confidential enough to let her go out.

* * *

"You know what you have to do, use the secret stag station and bring this message to the white queen, make sure that she reads it" Ordered the Queen as she placed a slate on the back of another spider.

"I will my queen" the messenger disappeared in the next second.

Herrah was scared, this had to happen one day or another and everything I had to be perfect. Hornet never traveled outside of the deep nest and already she could feel that her daughter was trying to go further and one day she might not be able to stop her ...

She feared what would happen if she discovered the darkens of her origins ... not it would never happen, she will make sure of it.

A spider guard entered Herrah's personnel nest and bowed.

"My queen, princess Hornet is returning soon, she has finished her hunt"

"Good ... any report about-"

"Nothing my queen ... however the amount of creeping corpses is still raising"

The queen sighed and sat on her throne.

"... at least there hadn't been any disappearance since-"

"Mother, I'm here"

Herrah was interrupted once again as Hornet entered the nest

"My dear ! You came here faster than I expected" complimented Herrah

"Is this about the creature ?" Asked Hornet as if she was in a hurry

"Thankfully no it isn't, in fact was were invited by your aunt, the white lady"

"Really ?!" Beamed Hornet not hiding her excitement

"Yes, we will use the old stagway since the road isn't completed safe now, there are a few thing we must discuss"

"I'm listening"

Herrah nodded and dismissed the guard with a wave of her hand.

"It's about ... well you know what is going on during our meetings"

"I do mother"

"It is very important for our people, you are coming with me this time since you are old enough but- ..."

"Mother ... do you fear something ?"

"I- ... No ... of course no. I guess I just want leave my kingdom alone without you"

"Oh ... of course hahaha ... when are we leaving ?"

"I will call you again, you are free to go now"

Hornet bowed and left the nest.

Herrah sighed ... she went to the secret section of her nest, Hornet didn't know it existed or at least she hadn't find it yet.

"... why are you still here ?"

Herrah looked at a strange statue which was hanging upside down from the ceiling, a "gift" he said ... something unbreakable.

"You are gone ... so why do you still haunt me ?"

* * *

"Mother ... why was the station built if no one uses it ?"

"It was made for secret reunions"

"Between you and my aunt ?"

"... yes"

"Does any stag come here ?"

"No ... either because they do not know about its existence or because they are too scared ... beside no one, expected us, uses it as you said"

"... I do not remember the last time since I saw aunt White ... I remember her eyes thought ... hahaha, It's funny, before I thought that she was filled with pure light, they were so bright'

"They are indeed ... personally I found them scary ... she could really kill us you know ?"

"Really ?"

"She is a very special bug ... in any possible way, the forest time I met her I actually wanted to kill her ... hahaha, I ended up on the verge of death"

"... magic ?"

Hornet had already heard about the power of soul, some charms required an external form of power or were meant to be used as a catalyse for spells based on soul.

She never tried to use soul power with her charm... beside a true hunter would never use such a dirty trick.

"Indeed she uses magic but ... as you may know a lot of bugs in this kingdom possesses their own individuality which grant them a large variety of power ... how do you think charms are made ?"

"Oh then- ... did you kill spiders to make this ?!" Asked Hornet worried as she showed the charm to her mother.

"Of course no ! My finest artisans put all their talent in order to make it"

"It still doesn't explain-"

The group stopped

"My queen ... someone is approaching ... they aren't trying to hide" informed a guard

"Do not attack unless I give order"

Hornet grabbed her nail, ready to draw it if her mother ordered anything.

"Queen Herrah" called a voice further in the tunnel "I was sent by the White Queen, it is I Dryya"

"Oh ... guards drop your weapons ... is there any trouble knight ?"

None of the guards flinched and so did Hornet, finally the knights appeared in front of the group, she wasn't holding any weapon.

"The White queen was getting impatient so she sent me to look out for you, I see that you are fine" the knight slightly bowed for the spider queen.

"Yes, we weren't disturbed during our journey"

"Please, allow me to guide you" she proposed

"... yes ... of course"

The knight then directed her gaze toward Hornet.

"Is this-?"

"Hornet, my daughter"

Hornet stared at Dryya ... she could feel that for some reason her mother became scared of something but she couldn't identify what it was.

"Oh ... sorry about my rudeness" apologised Dryya

"It is nothing ... letters continu before Wh- I mean the White queen becomes even more impatient, she would send Hegemol then and this would be ... way different" joked Herrah

"Hahaha it would yes, follow me"

Hornet whispered to her mother "You already met her ?"

"Yes ... but it was a long time ago, usually she doesn't speak so much, I guess It's an habit with her to give the cold shoulder to everyone, I think she was nice just for you" explained Herrah as Dryaa escorted the delegation.

"I should feel privileged then" Hornet looked around her, she rarely left the nest, sometimes she would explore outside but she never went further than the fungal caverns, her mother wouldn't let her do so.

The mantis, one of the many civilisations in Hallownest, weren't very welcoming. The tunnels of the deep nest were directly connected to their village.

Hornet tried to talk with a member of the tribe once, their conversation felt nonexistent as it was only or mostly an exchange of claws and nails.

"The queen made sure that the elevators were restored for your visit, we would have used the stag tunnels in the garden otherwise but-" the knight swallowed her words for a second "currently it's not accessible"

Herrah knew why, but she would rather leave her daughter out of this conflict for now "Well we will go up directly to the city then" In fact it was just perfect, Herrah met with the queen a lot when she was crowned queen of Hallownest.

Each time she travelled to the city the spider queen clearly noticed that she wasn't welcomed here. Annoying so called nobles, if they are so scared of her ? Why don't they simply kill her ? Weaklings, all of them. Herrah never understood why the Queen never got rid of this nobility, after all it was the last trace that the king had left on this world.

"... Tell me, is she doing fine all alone ?" Asked Herrah to the knight.

"The Queen is very ... secluded, master Sly helps a lot but he isn't as good as the Queen when it comes to actually take important decisions"

"Master Sly ? The nail master ? I thought he retired"

"He did, his three students are somewhere in Hallownest doing who knows what, but master Sly felt like he could still help the kingdom" The knight slowed down so she would be next to the spider queen "honestly I keep seeing him swimming in some kind of geo pile he hide away in the new castle"

"I can't wait to met him" added Herrah.

Hornet wasn't paying much attention their conversation, she spotted something observing them from above, they had reached the edges of the city, she could already see trails of water along the path.

She knew about the blue lake above the city, but the water was as dark as the shadows of the deepnest here in the city. Somehow all this water gave her goosebumps, as if spider could swim ... maybe she could ?

"We are approaching from the plaza, the castle is right ahead" explained the knight.

At least the bugs who lives in the city of tears actually knew how to use all this water, they built a fountain in the middle of the plaza, the water looked less cold and dark here. The fountain itself was in fact some sort of monument, a stature of-

"Mother is that-?" Hornet clearly recognised the shape of her mother, Herrah, and two other bug she didn't recognize.

"Yes, that's me ... I'm impressed, the person who made this literally "nailed" my body" commented the Queen who kept walking, almost pushing Dryya who was about to stop so Hornet could examine the statue.

"I was really surprised when Ogrim started this project, he worked with a student of master Sly, what was his name again ? Sheo ? ... I heard he decided to become an artist, what a waste, he was the strongest of the three students"

They quickly passed the plaza and approached from a greater building, for the first time Hirnet clearly saw how the guards looked like, and they were massive, at least three times taller than her.

"Master Dryya" greeted the guards, bowing together.

"I have returned with Chied Herrah and princess Hornet, the queen is waiting" She explained, or rather reminded both of the guards who took a step away from the door to let them inside.

"Well, here we are, than you for escorting us Dryya"

"No, thank you Herrah, I hope you will be able to help us" the knight left before Herrah could ask what about what Dryya meant by helping the queen, she sighed "Horner follow me, we are about to meet the queen ..."

"Is something on your mind mother ?"

"Nothing, just keep in mind that it's a diplomatic journey"

"Of course mother ..."


End file.
